The Most Unlikely Love Tale of All Time
by The Code Cruncher
Summary: A little idea cooked up in my brain. What if Tea was destined to be with Kaiba? How does Yugi feel? Heck, how does Tea feel about this?
1. Prologue

Prologue

Tea noticed a huge change in Yugi's behavior towards her in the past couple of days. Every time she tried to talk to him, he would always make the same reply without looking into her eyes, " Sorry Tea, I can't talk…gotta go!"

Today was the same, except for one detail; today while Yugi made the same obvious lie, the Millenium Necklace appeared on his neck briefly. Tea rubbed her eyes, and the Millenium Necklace was gone, almost if it had never been there, Yugi didn't seem to notice its being there either. Now with the Millenium Necklace entering the fray, Tea was even more annoyed. She knew now that Yugi was keeping something from her.

" And with that friendship speech I keep giving too! Can't he tell me what's wrong?" Tea says to herself when Yugi leaves.

It was definitely getting to her.


	2. The Tale of an Unhappy Wife and the Fort...

Chapter I: The Tale of an Unhappy Wife and the Fortuneteller 

" Tea, what are you doing with the Pharaoh's Millenium Necklace?" Ishizu questions Tea almost forcefully.

" I need to know something Ishizu, something I think is very important. Something's wrong with Yugi, and he won't tell me what it is. I think it has something that the Millenium Necklace showed him, so I…borrowed it from him."

" This isn't like you Tea, you've always trusted Yugi." The older Egyptian woman asks the younger Japanese woman.

" Well, I always did trust him, but now he…he isn't trusting me. I need to know what the necklace showed him, I tried using it, but it wouldn't respond. Since you once owned it, I thought you'd be able to show me."

" Tea, I gave up the Millenium Necklace to the Pharaoh because I didn't want to use it again. As much as I want to help you, I just can't."

" But you _do_ want me to return the necklace, right?" Such a dirty trick really didn't seem like Tea, but she _had_ to have her answer, " I really need to know Ishizu, if you tell me I'll be able to give the necklace back."

Ishizu sighed, she now had to tell Tea what she needed to know. Not because of the threat, she knew that was empty, but because of the look in Tea's eyes. Her eyes looked into Ishizu's pleadingly, not the eyes to go with the threat she just made, but she really couldn't help it. This was truly something that was important for Tea to be this adamant about it.

" Alright, I'll see what I can do Tea." She says at length.

" Thank you Ishizu." Tea says, giving her the magical item.

" I'll try my best to see what Yugi did, but please, don't expect much." Ishizu says putting the Millenium Necklace around her neck for the first time in several weeks. She was out of practice, but she still knew how to use the Millenium Necklace's power, " Millenium Necklace, lend me your power! Show to us that which the young Yugi has seen with your power!"

Without questioning Ishizu's words, the Millenium Necklace shines to life with a magical light. And suddenly the soft exterior of the Egyptian Exhibit transforms into the golden halls of a very rich man. The walls are decorated with Egyptian hieroglyphics, thus telling Tea where they are.

" This is interesting, this image must have been for the Pharaoh, and not Yugi." Ishizu says.

" But his destiny has been fulfilled, hasn't it?"

" Not yet, he still must unlock his memory."

" But still…something tells me that this has to do with me."

Now here came something that neither female could see coming, a woman, which appears to look a lot like Tea, wearing the garb of a high priestess, is walking along side the high priest. A man with the strength of character that makes nearly any man bow down to him, a man who looked like, Seto Kaiba. They were walking down the gloriously ordained hallway silently, but one very important detail, highlighted by the magic of the Millenium Necklace, is noticed by the viewers. A gold band on the ring finger of their left hands, into the rings, the hieroglyphic for "love" was etched.

" Oh…my…GOD!" Tea screams at the top of her lungs.

Thankfully they were only viewing the past and were not actually there; otherwise the entire city would have heard her.

The high priest leaves his wife in their chambers, and leaves the temple to meet with the Pharaoh. His wife sits on the bed where she hears an old and twisted voice address her, one she recognized, but one that the futuristic spectators obviously could not.

" Well fortuneteller, you promised me happiness unbound, but all I feel is grief." Tea's past self says.

" Well at lease she seems like me…" The future Tea remarks.

" Indeed I did promise you happiness unbound, but exactly _when_ that happiness occurs is not going to be shown immediately. Though I swear to you that you will thank me, for my advice, in due time." The old woman addressed as the fortuneteller replies to the wife of the high priest.

Now Tea was speechless, what could this old woman mean by "in due time"? And what was with this about true happiness and this marriage between her and Kaiba? Or was it just a joke? Her answer came as something she would have only seen in a dream, no, nightmare.

The old woman turns her head, and her eyes though what would be to her the wall, peer right into Tea's eyes. The gaze is held all the while the fortuneteller repeats her next statement, " In due time my lady, in due time. In due time will you be pleased to have heard from me."

The old woman leaves the room, and the past Tea, in a scuff. The married woman looks around her room, surely she had all that any woman could have wanted, but she didn't feel that she could possibly be made happy by any of it. She was the trophy wife of the high priest, smiling for the people. At this time however, she felt nothing for the high priest, and wished that she had never agreed to follow the fortuneteller's advice.


	3. The Next Day, Let the Games Begin!

Chapter II: The Next Day, Let the Games Begin! 

Tea awoke in a start; the events that happened the other night seemed like a dream. Her dreams, no, nightmares, were filled with images of the high priest and that woman that looked like her. She suddenly understood why Yugi was so upset, he couldn't bear to see her, and being honest, she couldn't bear to see him again today. Oh how she wished she didn't have to go to school today, but life wasn't that fair, she still had to go through three more days. She just hoped that Yugi wouldn't approach her with this until the weekend was over.

She got on her school uniform, and remembered what Ishizu had said the other night before she left, " I'm sure that everything will work out for the best Tea."

" Everything will work out for the best?" Thought Tea, " What's the best, what happened to that woman five-thousand years ago? I don't think that was for the best…Argh! Why Kaiba?" She was a nervous wreak, nothing she tried could get her to stop thinking what happened, " And the fortuneteller looked straight into _my_ eyes back then. Talk about creepy!"

She slept in today due to the nightmares, and she would have to hurry to get to school on time. She thanked all that is, when she arrived in homeroom class in time for the first bell. She took her regular seat, and waited for the inevitable. Yugi would arrive soon; he always did get to class just in the nick of time since he became World Champion. Everyone would challenge him to duels, Joey and Tristian on the other hand were always late, and not because of duels. They always arrived late because Joey was a chronic sleeper, and always overslept, and it was always Tristian prying him out of bed just so they both could even _make_ it to school.

The second bell and Yugi wasn't there yet. Now this was odd, he was never late for class. After ten minutes of boring lecture, the door burst open with the regular school day special. Joey and Tristian run through the door at the same time, apologize to the teacher, and walk to their seat all the while arguing amongst each other on who's fault it was that they were late.

When the teacher had assigned the class work and sat down, Tea questioned Joey about Yugi, " Hey, why isn't Yugi here?"

" Huh?" Joey started, " Well, ya see we were over at Yugi's house this morning. Mr. Motou needed us to tell the main office that Yugi was sick, and before we left he stuck us with some chores!"

" And we still would'a made it here in time if you didn't make such a scene with the garbage basin." Tristian tells him.

" Hey, I couldn't help it if a black cat was coming my way! Do you want me to lose all my duels with the bad luck?" Joey countered.

" You'd probably lose them anyway." Tristian mocks.

" C'mon guys, stop it. Why do you think Yugi is sick?" Tea asked.

" Dunno…" Joey says, " Hey, what's with the bags under your eyes?" He adds after noticing that drowsy look in Tea's eyes.

She couldn't tell them why she had the bags under her eyes, at least not yet, " Nothing."

" I don't think its nothing Tea, you also seem a little different today…" Joey says trying to figure out what was bothering Tea, he was never good at such things.

Suddenly the bell rang, and they each had to go on their separate ways until lunch. Saved by the bell, as most would say, Tea never got the chance to lie again. She was never good at lying. She now had a whole hour to figure out what to do, should she tell Joey and Tristian, or not? It was an important question that she would have to answer soon.

In her next class, there was only student that she knew. Probably the toughest person she would have to meet today since Yugi was sick, she knew it probably wasn't the nicest thing to think about her friend, but she truly hoped that he would stay sick for the rest of the week. The only good thing was that she most likely wasn't going to have to deal with this person, Seto Kaiba.

She entered the class and took her usual seat, and noticed something odd. Kaiba wasn't already there. Since he had homeroom and this class in the same room, he never had to get out of his seat for the second class. But he was nowhere to be found. It seemed awfully suspicious that both he and Yugi, the two males affected by this current of events, were both missing the same day. The only difference between Kaiba and Yugi, though, was that Kaiba never saw the events in the past.

He walked in sometime before the first bell, like Tea; he also had bags under his eyes. This was not a good sign. He took his regular seat at the back of class, a place he took so the other students whom he very much so disliked wouldn't bother him.

" He probably is starting to feel tired from staying up all night for the past month." Tea tried to reason with herself.

She really didn't like the thought of Kaiba knowing this; it would be a very uncomfortable situation if he and she were to actually talk about it. She never really thought of Kaiba like this before, she always just ignored him, like he wanted. And now, since she was thinking about him, she found she couldn't stop thinking about him!

" No, I gotta stop thinking about this, that was just some bad dream last night. And even if it wasn't, Kaiba would never in a million years even think about marrying me." She kept telling herself, but the feeling wouldn't go away.

It was bothersome too; she looked at her desk in hopes that Kaiba wouldn't notice her staring at him. Why did this have to happen to her? Why couldn't life just continue like it had been, why did that old woman have to look _right_ at her?

The teacher stood up in front of the class when the bell had rung; he counted heads and got right into his lesson plan. He had intended on letting the class work in-groups today, and as fate would have it, he chose for Tea and Kaiba to be in the last group, since they were too tired to pay attention.

After much hesitation with the staring battle between herself and Kaiba, Tea finally moved over to the back of the room. She opened her textbook to the required page, and they set to work on the problems, agreeing without needing words what they should do. Much like she expected, it was an uncomfortable situation. She now was so close to him that she couldn't ignore him, and as for him, he just didn't like having to deal with any of Yugi's friends period.

It was only after a while that they needed to talk to each other, it was on a question that tea couldn't figure out. She unconsciously said, " Hey, I can't remember what this one is."

Kaiba sighed, Tea could tell that he had appreciated the quiet. This started to make her blood boil, she always hated how anti-social he could be, " Well that unexpected," He started, " out of all the idiots in here, you were the last person I would expect to forget something." Kaiba said.

Despite his dislike to have to deal with her, Kaiba was still a businessman, and he knew that if he wanted the people that worked for him to do a good job, he couldn't put them down. In this case, he was in a partnership, and although what he said was not meant to be nice at all, he phrased it in such a way that she couldn't get too upset.

Too bad he didn't know women like he knows about business, " Well I'm sorry," Tea seethed at Kaiba, " I didn't get much sleep last night, and it's kinda hard to remember small things when you're sleepy." It was only after this statement that Tea realized who she was talking to.

" And you're complaining to me?" Kaiba said, it was all he needed to say, after all, he was famous for his regular late nights.

It wasn't long before she could think of a good comeback though, " Yeah, you should know. You must be always forgetting little things, like, what day is it?"

Now she had him on this one, he knew the month and the number day, but he had completely forgotten what day of the week it was. An unimportant detail, but one that now had some importance now since he was asked it.

" Hmph, what does it matter?" He snorted back at her; he really didn't have an answer.

With no winner over that little spat, the two just looked at each other for a moment or two, before realizing what they were doing. Tea snapped back to her book saying that she just remembered what to do, and Kaiba looked back at his own book looking as calm as he can.

The bell broke the silence at last, and the students got up to take their leave of the class. She would use the next period to think about telling Joey and Tristian about her vision of the far past. After all, she would have to deal with it sooner or later. And if she waited for later, things would just get worse.


	4. Over at the Motou's

Chapter III: Over at the Motou's 

Yugi lay sick in bed, the only thing he could think about was what he had seen with the Millenium Necklace. Yami had wanted to see more of his ancient past, and figure out more about himself. But the item had, for some reason, hijacked their minds and sent them to the high priest's temple instead of the Pharaoh's throne. Once he saw the past Tea and past Kaiba wearing those rings…

He always had a crush on Tea, and seeing her with Kaiba just…just rubbed him the wrong way. Why, how, did past Kaiba marry past Tea? Yami kept telling him that they were not exactly Tea and Kaiba who were married; it was the high priest and some woman that he could not remember. But this fact wasn't helping Yugi's mood, he still felt miserable. So miserable that his body stopped fighting off germs, and he came down with a fever.

He couldn't figure it out; Kaiba and Tea were two entirely different people. Kaiba is a cold businessman who spends too much time with his work to even think of romance. Tea is a virtuous young woman who is always helping out her friends. Two people at exact opposite sides of the spectrum. How could fate do this to him?

His secret love and his greatest rival destined by fate to be together? He hated this whole situation, but more than that, he hated himself. Why couldn't he even tell her how he felt? Every time he sees her, his heart flutters about in his chest. But when he saw that vision, every time he saw her, his heart plummeted into the vicinity of his left foot.

" But…" Yugi started, " If I tell her how I feel, maybe I can stop this destiny."

Now he had a reason to get well quickly, he would have to put a wrench into the cogs of fate as soon as possible. It shouldn't be hard to get in between Tea and Kaiba anyway; after all they aren't on the best of terms anyway.

The Millenium Necklace on Yugi's desk gave a soft glow in response to this, if Yugi would try and get in the way of fate; then it would have to intervene on behalf on destiny. Its master did not tell lies; it would have to put its own plan into action. And like that it was gone, to the only place where it could start the chain of events that would lead to the inevitable.


	5. Back at School

Chapter IV: Back at School   
Seto Kaiba sat in his study hall class with nothing to do but continue his plans for Kaiba Land; the virtual reality amusement park that he promised his brother that they would make. He had the hard part already done, programming the system and getting rid of the bugs. NPCs that said only the same line every time you spoke to them was a very, very difficult problem to overcome. It was a good thing that he already had that completed from his last game project to work off of for Kaiba Land, they were now into calculating the cost of this virtual wonderland, something Kaiba was sure was not going to be a problem. 

So he really had nothing to worry about, but work was the only thing that could keep his mind off of…less productive thoughts. Yes, he thought of her, a lot actually. Ever since that time where she was tied under a crate as some sort of insurance for Yugi's duel. Something happened then, and consciously Seto had no idea what it was, but he felt a sort of obligation to save her. He had masked this confusion well when he said that it was bad for the tournament to have such factors in it.

He disliked thinking about her so much; it was like a disease poisoning his mind. He had a company to run, and thoughts about some idiot girl who would never leave him alone about his policies were not healthy business thoughts. Her incessant babbling about "friendship" and "strength from friends", all it did was annoy him. His power came from himself; all he needed was his own strength, as a duelist, as a CEO, and as a man. He needed no one to help him, nor did he want their help.

He thought back to one class ago, Tea, that girl, what was wrong with her? They had a mutual agreement not to talk to each other, so why did she ask him for an answer she obviously knew? He honestly didn't have the answer, and he figured that it was probably for the best. That odd situation was best forgotten.

" Well…" Kaiba thought, " At least this time she didn't rant on about friendship."

Author's Note: Thanks to the people who gave positive reviews for the first couple of chapters, nothing helps push a writer to perform more than that. The main pairing? I'll let you think about that! Could destiny and that fortuneteller prove unstoppable, or can little Yugi overcome fate? Stranger things have happened!


	6. The Decision

Chapter V: The Decision 

Tea stood somewhere in the cafeteria, she had somehow lost herself in the sea of people scurrying off to their classes and running off to their lunch breaks. She dodged several people going in both directions, from above it might look like this group is moving in some semi-balance of order, however from her standpoint it was chaos. Eventually she found her way to the table where she and her friends eat.

Joey was in the middle of his soup, and Tristian was enjoying a sandwich, both were enjoying the benefits of not having Tea around them - eating like animals. She sat down and made an impatient, " Ahem!" Both Joey and Tristian shot up and looked in Tea's direction, " Well aren't you two acting like pigs."

The two men just laughed nervously as Tea sat down, and after a minute of awkward silence while Tea got her lunch out, they continued eating. Tea still hadn't figured out if she should tell them about that vision, after all it was just a vision. A very spooky vision, but a vision none the less. No, it wasn't just a very spooky vision; it was a premonition. Everything the Millenium Necklace ever showed was the past that impacted the future, everything from the Pharaoh to the high priest, it all accumulated to something in the future.

" But…" She thought, " Who's to say those events had to happen? Maybe with the help of my friends, we can find what the future really is supposed to be!"

She had made up her mind, she was going to tell Joey and Tristian about the vision of the past. Maybe they would understand and tell her that it was just impossible, the reassurance would really help her.

" Guys, I need to tell you something that's been bugging me for a while now." She started.

" What is it Tea? If someone's been bugging you, we could always give him the boot you know." Joey said firmly, no one ever bugged one of his friends and got away with it.

" Yeah, just tell us who it is, and we'll squash 'em!" Chimed in Tristian.

" No you guys, no one's been bugging me." Tea told them, " No, it's been Yugi. He's always been acting all weird around me. So I, borrowed, his Millenium Necklace to see if I can see what was making him act all strange. It showed me the strangest thing I've ever seen, and believe me, I've seen a lot of weird things."

" What was it?" Joey asked.

" It was Kaiba, or he looked like Kaiba. I think it was his past self, the high priest." Tea was answering Joey when Tristian cut her off.

" Why would the Millenium Necklace show you the high priest?"

" Let me finish Tristian!" Tea scolded him causing him to shy away, " What was weird was that I, or my past self, was walking with him. With wedding bands on their fingers."

" **What**!" Joey and Tristian both yelled at the same time, causing several people in the vicinity to look in their direction.

It was a few silent minutes before everyone would turn back to their own business, and another minute before Tea felt safe enough to talk again. She felt secure with her friends knowing about this, but if the entire school knew…Lets just say she would really hate for _that_ to happen.

" Guys, keep it down. Even if it weren't the truth, the rumors would be _murder_." She took a moment to compose herself again, and then she picked up where she left off, " My past self was left alone in a room, where a fortuneteller was waiting for her. She said that even though she wasn't very happy then, she would be happy in the future. Then the weirdest thing happened: she looked _right_ at me when she said it! I know they aren't supposed to see you when you're having a vision, but…how would she know?"

" That's very creepy there Tea, are you sure you didn't fall asleep with a Steven King novel in your hands?" Tristian queried.

" No, I don't read Steven King, too creepy. That's why I don't like this you guys, this is ten-times creepier that anything Steven King wrote."

" Steven-who?" Joey cut in; he was confused again about the more cultured things.

" Agh, the novelist, ding-bell!" Tristian yells, squeezing Joey's head between his two fists as a sort of punishment for Joey's comment.

" Hey, get your hands off me you creep!" Joey shouts, pushing Tristian off him, " Anyway Tea, don't worry. Kaiba doesn't believe in that ancient Egyptian stuff, and less about magic, anyway. And with us around, Kaiba would never dare come near you." He says confidently.

And as if only to smite him, just the wrong person just happened to be walking by as he said that, " I wouldn't count on that Wheeler." Came the cold voice of Seto Kaiba, " the reason why I don't come near while you're around is because you stink like a dog, and I don't want it on me."

" Hey! I resent that Kaiba!" Joey shouts, standing up to Kaiba.

" Just go Kaiba, we don't need this right now. Joey, sit down." Tea commanded both men.

Joey stared vacantly at Tea, before sitting down; " You're lucky money-bags."

Kaiba smirked, and made a little snicker before walking away. He looked as if he didn't much care to stay either, however that single second in time, was more awkward for Seto than any other event in his life. Even more awkward when he had to stand up in front of the big five, all adept duelist, after he lost his own tournament, and took a shameful third place.

Tea also felt a little odd, she had never been so assertive with anyone before, and actually meant it like she did then. And what was even stranger, Kaiba actually obeyed her! That was very uncharacteristic of Seto, bigwig CEO of a multi-national company, Kaiba. She felt really strange, and, kind of good.

Author's Note: The plot thickens! With Joey and Tristian clued in, will Yugi ever find out? What would he do then? What of Kaiba, does he have any feelings whatsoever for Tea? As always, I sincerely thank everyone who tossed me the proverbial doggie treat, and reviewed The Most Unlikely Love Tale of all Time!


	7. Fate's Plan

Chapter VI: Fate's Plan 

" Sister, why do you want me to watch the museum?" Marik asked his sister.

" Because you are the only one who knows Egyptian history as well as I do." Ishizu replied.

" But I know nothing about running a museum exhibit…" Marik complains to his sister.

" You'll be fine, all you need to do is tell what you know of the stone tablets. But one thing to keep in mind: don't talk like you are certain of what you are talking about; try talking more like everything you know is more like speculation. People respond better to the uncertain then they do to the certain that they do not understand." Ishizu reassures him, " I really need this day off Marik, so I could use your help today."

" Okay sister, I'll try."

" Thank you Marik."

Marik left the apartment to go to the museum downtown, while Ishizu moved to lie down on the couch. She had accidentally over-worked herself, and that late night visit from Tea did little to help matters. It was an odd situation, and one that she was glad didn't involve her. She didn't, however, know how wrong she was.

No sooner had her back rested on the pillows of the couch, had the Millenium Necklace appeared around her neck. Ishizu snapped her eyes open at the coldness of the gold around her neck, and she was undoubtedly shocked when she saw what it was.

" What is this doing here?" Ishizu asked out loud, not expecting an answer, as she was alone in the apartment.

Suddenly she heard a voice tell her the answer to her question; it sounded like an old woman who spoke as it she knew everything, " I am here to talk about destiny."

Upon hearing the voice Ishizu realized whose voice this was, " You are that fortuneteller that told Tea's past self to marry the high priest! How are you talking to me?"

" Much like the Millenium Puzzle and Millenium Ring, the Millenium Necklace has a soul within it." Replied the fortuneteller.

At first it didn't make sense, how did a Millenium Item come into the possession of a fortuneteller? And how did she put her soul inside of it? Something inside told Ishizu that this was no ordinary fortuneteller, especially if she once owned the Millenium Necklace.

" You said something about destiny, whose destiny?"

" The girl who asked you to use the Millenium Necklace last night. The one who is destined to the happiness I promised her five-thousand years ago."

" Tea? So it is true, is Tea destined to marry Kaiba?"

" Yes. Despite their hardships as a couple in Egyptian times, the events of the past started a flow of events that will lead to their happiness in this time period. I have foreseen it. But…there is one who will try and stop this gentle flow of events, and stop destiny. He must be stopped, even though he means well, his actions will cause more grief for that young woman than she did five-thousand years ago."

" But won't this cause grief for someone no matter what?" Ishizu asked with concern for Yugi, certain that it was him who was going to try and stop destiny.

" Yes, but only for a while. It is not the young woman who he is destined to be with. Actually," The fortuneteller began, " this will bring them all together."

" Very well, what do I need to do?"

" Since the young man will try to get to the young woman before the descendent of the high priest will realize his feelings, we must speed up the pace at which the high priest's descendent realizes how he feels for the young woman. The best way to do this is to keep them both together, this should cause the flow of events to speed up."

The proposed plan was not without its flaws, however, as Ishizu could think of no way to get Kaiba to meet with Tea. There was no conceivable method with which she could have the CEO of Kaiba Corp. meet up with someone who is friends with his rival. This would be undoubtedly be her hardest task, she only hoped that she could make Kaiba fulfill destiny like she did before the Battle City Tournament.

" I can set them up to meet, but I still cannot think of how to deal with Seto Kaiba…" Ishizu started when the fortuneteller interrupted.

" Do not worry about Kaiba, he will agree to meet with Tea. There is no way he can resist." The fortuneteller said all-knowingly.

" Then I have one last question for you. Who are you? How did you put your soul into the Millenium Necklace?" Ishizu asked, despite the fact that it was pretty rude she needed to know the answers, and it was quite surprising.

" I am the original owner of the Millenium Necklace; oracle of the Pharaoh. I am known as Fate for my ability to tell the future, by studying the past, with one hundred percent accuracy. Farewell, my descendant!" Answered the fortuneteller, and her voice disappeared with the Millenium Necklace.

It took Ishizu several minutes to take in what had just transpired. Tea Gardner, Seto Kaiba, Yugi Motou, and Ishizu Ishtar. All of their destinies will become intertwined in the following events, with this mysterious ancestor of the Ishtar family being seemingly the mastermind of it all. After it all had registered in her mind, Ishizu called the museum, and asked for her brother.

" Marik, I'm going to need some more days off…"

If she was going to bridge the gap between Tea and Seto, and keep Yugi at bay, she was going to need some time. Time she hoped was not running out. If the fortuneteller, Fate, was telling the truth, then her involvement was very important. For the sakes of everyone involved.

Author's Note: I haven't any idea about the entire Ancient Egypt story-line, so please do not rip me a new one if Ishizu's ancestor isn't Fate (my original character), or if there are any other inconsistencies in that aspect of the story.

Things are really starting to heat up here, enjoy the rest of The Most Unlikely Love Tale of all Time!


	8. Making the Perfect Match

Chapter VII: Making the Perfect Match

Finally, the week had come to its end. Someone in the sky must have loved her, because Yugi had to stay home in bed due to being sick. Now she had the whole weekend to herself; no school, no Yugi, no screwy visions, just her and two days of freedom. 

She didn't have to deal with Kaiba again for the rest of the week, which was another thankful occurrence. So was that it? Was the Millenium Puzzle making fun of her? It had to be just that, after all, Kaiba and her are two entirely different people. What could possibly put them together?

She laughed, " Yeah, me and Kaiba! What a joke!"

Now it was time to relax, sit, no, lie on the couch, and watch her favorite television shows. She would forget everything that had happened, and stay glued to the set until the malls opened. Then she would indulge herself with her weekly allowance. But fate had different plans for her; she would not relax today, if by relaxing she meant having the most annoying yet delightful day of her life.

The phone rang, causing Tea to get up off of her comfortable spot on the couch. She sauntered over from the living room to the kitchen, her bare feet got cold as they moved from the carpet to the tiles. The phone rang again and again before she finally picked it up.

" Hello, Gardner residence." Tea spoke into it.

The voice she heard on the other end was nothing that she could have prepared herself for, " Tea, its me, Ishizu."

" Ishizu! Find out that the vision wasn't real? I already figured that out." Tea said, happy to speak to Ishizu for some reason.

" Tea, how would you like to go to the mall today?"

" I was just thinking of going there actually Ishizu. I still need to get ready though, how about at noon?"

" Alright, I'll see you there." Ishizu replied, and hung up the phone.

Tea quickly walked back to the couch with the will to stuff her feet between two pillows to warm them up, and get back to her television programs. She wondered why Ishizu would want to go to the mall with her, but she took it as a blessing. She always hated going to the mall alone, and she couldn't go with Yugi, Joey, or Tristian because they were male.

" But still…" Tea started talking out loud, " Why would Ishizu suddenly ask me out to the mall?"

Tea now figured there must have been something she discovered about the vision, and wanted to talk to her in person. Could it be bad news? No, then she would have told her on the phone. What was it that Ishizu was planning? Surely not a casual meeting at the mall.

Whatever it was, she would have to find out what it was at the mall. Something inside her told Tea that this was not something to be missed.

" But not before my cartoons!" She says cheerfully as her programs started again after the commercial ended.

The show she was watching was a hysterical martial arts romantic comedy where most of the main characters were cursed to transform into different animals. The romantic interest between the two main characters lured her into it, and its sheer craziness is what keeps her watching every week.

She got ready after another hour of her favorite programs, and exited her house. She couldn't keep herself from wondering just why Ishizu wanted to meet her. She couldn't just dismiss it as a friendly gesture, because every time Ishizu wanted to talk to you, you found yourself fulfilling some sort of destiny, and the destiny she was fated to have didn't quite interest her in the least.

She started the walk on her way to the mall; it wasn't a very long walk. She would arrive at the mall in time for the meeting, and hopefully Ishizu would tell her that, that fortuneteller was wrong, and that she wasn't destined to be with Kaiba. She was sure that was it, it had to be it. If she was wrong, then all she had to go off of was that picture of the unhappy wife, her ancestor.

She was determined to not let that happen again. She would not allow it. Becoming the trophy wife of a cold-hearted man like Seto Kaiba, it all put a very bad taste in her mouth. Five thousand years ago she might have been foolish enough to marry based on what that fortuneteller said, but things are different now. She wouldn't make any decisions that she knew would make her unhappy.

She arrived at the mall, but she didn't see Ishizu anywhere. Maybe she was lost; after all she was probably new to the mall. Tea figured that if they were going to shop, she would advise a whole new wardrobe. Those Egyptian clothes were too odd to be walking anywhere outside of the museum.

But what Tea couldn't see was Ishizu already inside the mall, dressed in regular clothes to camouflage her body in the crowd. She was watching and waiting for Kaiba to arrive; it was very hard to get him to come to the mall. It took a half-hour of getting Kaiba the least bit interested in getting away from his work and another half-hour to convince him that he really wanted to go to the mall.

Now was the time for destiny to be fulfilled, when Tea and Kaiba meet, Fate's plan will be fulfilled. But even unbeknownst to Fate, Yugi is also in that mall, looking at the Duel Monsters cards. Who would win in this game of destiny? Who would be hurt?

Author's Note: Ooh, a cliffhanger! Who will win? Is destiny truly ironbound, or can little Yugi find a way to overcome it? Find out in the next chapter of The Most Unlikely Love Tale of all Time!


	9. The First Date?

Chapter VIII: The First Date? 

Tea walked paced around just inside the mall, she came very close to just leaving, but she knew that Ishizu was a woman of her word. She would show up, she was probably just a little late. Tea peered into the crowd of people, trying to find Ishizu's Egyptian style clothes. It couldn't be too hard to spot her, after all her clothes are completely different.

She eventually decided to give it up, maybe she would meet up with her in the mall somewhere. So why wait any longer? She would enjoy herself! She started marching off into the mall with a long list of stores to visit and things to do. Maybe she would go to the arcade, and play a few rounds of Dance Dance Revolution. She was going to have a fun time, whether or not she found Ishizu.

And so she took a step, and turned around with it, and she bumped right into the person who single-handedly ruined her mood completely. She bumped into the CEO of Kaiba Corp., Seto Kaiba.

" Oops, sorry." She began Tea when she saw whom she had bumped into, " Ah, Kaiba!"

Kaiba had the surprise of his life when he saw Tea's smaller body collide with his own; this was the first time he had seen her completely off guard. She didn't seem angry, which is what he always saw her as, and that was nice to see. But of course he had to react unconsciously, in the characteristically coldness of Seto Kaiba.

" Watch where you're going."

" You could do the same Seto." Tea said, using Kaiba's first name as a way to get at him, " Wait, what are you doing in the mall? Shopping for Blue-Eyes underwear?" Tea then added, laughing at her stupid joke.

" Hmph, I have to meet someone here." Kaiba replied, trying not to overreact to Tea's comment about Blue-Eyes underwear, " Why did she say that anyway?" He added in his mind.

" Hey, I'm meeting someone too, who are you meeting?" Tea asked, surprised with the good mood Kaiba was in, " He didn't even comment about my Blue-Eyes underwear, now that's not normal, but nice." She thought.

" It doesn't matter to you, I just want to see this person and get out of here. Why she wanted to meet me in a mall was just asinine."

" 'She'? Who's this she Kaiba? A girlfriend?"

" Of course not!"

" Then who is it? I'm just going to follow you until I find out, or until you tell me. So what'll it be?"

" You do not need to know, so just carry on with your business here."

" I got a free day, I'm gonna follow you."

Kaiba was getting annoyed; she wasn't going to let him be! If he wanted to get rid of her, all he had to do was tell her who it was. It was simple enough, and wasn't all that important that he would conceal that. So why wouldn't he take the obvious route? Something deep down inside Kaiba told him that he wanted to be with her. Whether it was something to do with the gracious amount of sleep he allowed himself the other night, or how Tea had hit him, he didn't know. But he just didn't want to ditch her.

" Do what you want, I'm going to find the person I'm meeting." Kaiba said, finally giving in to Tea and his own unconscious demands, " Why isn't she here yet?" He added, annoyed that the person he was supposed to meet wasn't there yet.

Kaiba walked around the entrance of the mall, looking for the person who had told him to come to the mall. But no matter where he looked, he could not find her. This was enraging, how could she tell him to meet him here, and then not come. He had half a mind to leave right then and there; it was the other half that stopped him though. That half wanted to continue searching despite the obvious fact that she wasn't coming, because that half wanted Tea to stay close to him. He wouldn't find this woman, because she was standing above, looking down on him.

Ishizu looked down on Kaiba and Tea wandering around below her, she wanted to hang around and try to let destiny take its course. She believed Fate when she said that if destiny were suppressed, Tea would be unhappy. She disliked seeing Tea's past self unhappy, and she was certain it would be even worse if it were actually Tea feeling unloved and obligated to a relationship. Destiny had also bound her to this, and she would do anything necessary to keep these events moving along.

Kaiba seemed to not care anymore about the woman that told him to be at the mall, and he just started walking around the exit of the mall. Tea felt like she needed to say something, but what could she say to him? Kaiba was known as one of the least personal men in the whole world, what could she say that would get him to open up to her?

" Maybe she's waiting at the other end of the mall, there's an entrance over there too." Tea eventually said, when it seemed that Kaiba's patience was at its minimal.

" Hm…that's possible." Kaiba said at length, he wasn't used to someone helping him.

They started off for the other end of the mall, Kaiba and Tea standing side by side much like their past selves did five-thousand years ago. Everybody looking at them might have sworn that they were a couple, but there was no love in their eyes. Not yet anyway. Tea might have denied it if asked right then and there if she had feelings for Kaiba, but she would only be lying to herself. Same for Kaiba, he would have denied it faster and more adamantly than Tea, but he couldn't deny that he liked walking with her.

The tension between them grew and grew, until Tea felt that she had to say or do something to relieve the pressure. Standing next to Kaiba was electric; she didn't know what to think, or what to say. She suddenly remembered the time he had saved her life from Marik when he was still evil.

" He looked so dashing when he saved me, and all he did was throw a card and call a helicopter to pull the Dumpster into the ocean!" Tea thought.

Kaiba never felt quite like this in his life. Was it love? No, it couldn't be. Not this girl who would never leave him alone about his views on "friendship", not that annoying girl who associated herself with his greatest rival. He almost felt like growling, but not from frustration at her, but at himself. At himself who was so confused about his own feelings. Life just had to get complicated all of a sudden. Why couldn't it just be all work and business like it had been? He had no idea how much more complicated life was going to get, nor how good was going to get either.

They arrived at the other end of the mall where the other entrance was. Kaiba looked around for three minutes before just saying out loud, " That's it, I'm leaving."

Tea didn't feel like losing Kaiba's presence just yet, but how could she get him to stay? As a matter of fact, since when did she want Kaiba around? In either case she needed to say something that would interest Kaiba enough to stay at the mall. Her answer, Duel Monsters. It was a long shot, but she knew how much Kaiba liked Duel Monsters. Maybe he was like Yugi, and always bought booster packs in hopes of getting secret rare cards.

" Hey Kaiba, there's a card shop here in the mall. I can show it to you, who knows, maybe even you'll find something there you want?"

" I very highly doubt that." Kaiba said, as he already owned every single rare card that was worth anything.

" You might. Heh, maybe you'll find a Dark Magician!" Tea said, trying to get Kaiba to respond in anger.

There was no other sure-fire way to anger Seto Kaiba than to flaunt Yugi's success in his face. She didn't know why, but she loved dealing with Kaiba when he was angry, it gave her a sense of power over the CEO of Kaiba Corp. In that way she would be equal to him.

Instead of getting angry, however, Kaiba smirked, " I'm not interested in any useless cards Tea."

" Did he just say that? Yes he did! He called me by my name!" Tea thought, " What about Kuriboh then? That little fuzz ball is so cute!" She says to Kaiba.

" Cute cards are not me." Kaiba responded.

Ishizu reveled; it was a giant victory for destiny. She had no idea that they would be joking together, and enjoying each other's company so soon. Kaiba had finally dropped his barriers, and let Tea in, and Tea in turn has finally accepted the fact that she liked Kaiba. They both walked back into the mall, talking along the way. But destiny wasn't the only power in this battle over the relationship of Tea and Kaiba. Little did they know that Yugi was in the card shop they were unconsciously heading for. This would be the ultimate test, and one that not even Fate, in her mastery of precognition, could tell who would succeed in.

Author's Note: Uhoh, more cliffhangers! I'm so very sorry for the long update, I make no excuses. Hopefully the next chapter will be quicker than this one.


	10. Fate's Bane: Yugi

Chapter IX: Fate's Bane: Yugi 

Kaiba didn't know why he was walking back into the accursed mall, but for some reason he felt that this was more enthralling than working on improving that artificial intelligence program. Maybe it was time for a break, in all the years he had been CEO of Kaiba Corp. his only time he left to himself was to duel in the tournaments and the World Championship duels.

But now he was talking with this girl, whom he once saw as an enemy. It was odd really, she always tried to get him into the "friendship" thing, and now she seemed to have succeeded. He wasn't even putting up a fight! At the very least he wouldn't allow himself to sink low enough to join their group of friends.

As they turned into the card shop, the very wrong person just happened to be exiting with a merry fistful of rare cards. When Yugi saw Tea and Kaiba together, he nearly dropped his cards. He was late!

" No, I'm too late! No, I may still have time." Yugi thought to himself before addressing them, " Tea, I didn't know you and Kaiba…" He put on a fake stutter, the statement was to test the waters, he had to see if they were really together.

Tea and Kaiba replied at exactly the same time, " No!"

This was good for Yugi, now he knew there was still time to get in between them, " Well, Kaiba, what are you doing here? I didn't think you went to malls."

" I don't, I'm just looking for someone." Kaiba responded with a hint of hate in his tone.

Yugi was used to Kaiba's tone, so it rolled right off of him, " Who are you looking for?"

" Some girl…" Tea started in a fanciful tone, "She invited him here for a date." She continued, mocking Kaiba.

Now Kaiba could take her little ribbing alone or amongst a crowd who did not pay much attention to them, but in front of Yugi, that was just too much. He wouldn't, and couldn't respond to that like he had been thus far today. As much as it would surprise her, he had a reputation to hold up.

" Some woman wanted to talk to me concerning the future of Kaiba Corp., I should have known it was just a hoax. I'm leaving now, goodbye." He said, and with a flap of his now trademark white trench coat he disappeared into the mall.

Tea almost felt like going after him, but she couldn't with Yugi watching. With any of her friends around, she just didn't feel like she could be at peace with him like she had been just a moment earlier. She really couldn't explain it, but she figured it might have been something about the way they all collectively felt about Kaiba. After all, he had insulted and humiliated Joey on two separate occasions, and was such a stubborn jerk about anything that normal people understood to be friendship. But she still couldn't believe how well she got along with him without Joey, Tristian and especially Yugi around. Maybe…It had something to do with how Kaiba felt about them?

Yugi bent over to pick up his cards that he just realized he had dropped. He was glad there was no real damage to them, since they were all very good cards, and would pick up the game of any competent duelist. Tea helped him pick up the last card, and they mentally agreed to go to the food court. It was like that with them, they had been friends for so long, and had been through so much; that they could think almost in unison.

Once they had gotten their food, Yugi started to talk, " Hey Tea, what _was_ Kaiba doing here?"

" Like I said Yugi, he was meeting some girl. I don't really know who, or why, but I know it must have been something big to make Kaiba come to the mall. A place I'm pretty sure he has no love for." Tea responded, taking a mouthful of Raman.

" Well whatever it is, I'm sure he'll want no help from us, so don't worry about it." Yugi said, wording it just so that he gave the impression that Kaiba didn't like her.

It wasn't false either, so it wasn't very dirty at all. If he were to win Tea's heart, he would have to defame Kaiba in anyway possible, and boost his own image. Something that he had to be very careful of, if he made one wrong move, he could very well lose her forever. He would not let that happen, he loved Tea too much than to lose her to Kaiba, where her past self was so miserable.

Ishizu watched from across the food court, it was an ill omen indeed. While Yugi was around, there was no hope for Tea and Kaiba, and if she were Yugi, she would stay as close to Tea as she could to block Kaiba. It was going to be quite the war, and Ishizu was sure that if she lost, Tea would suffer. She may not have known it for absolute certain, but she believed in destiny, and her ancestor Fate.

Kaiba on the other hand was in his limousine, swearing that he would stay in his house over the weekend to work on Kaiba Land. He promised his brother and himself, and he wasn't going to disappoint. He put dueling on hold, and he would put wild goose chases and confused feelings on hold too if necessary. He couldn't afford anymore distractions, and Tea was on the top of the distraction list.

Author's Note: It doesn't look good for destiny. With Kaiba locking himself at home, and with Yugi most definitely planning on moving in during that time, what can possibly happen to make the most unlikely couple work?


	11. Toys of Fate

Chapter X: Toys of Fate?

Tea got home from the mall, she had only one bag this time, which was not characteristic of her. She was just too bogged down with her thoughts of Kaiba, Yugi, destiny, and why she felt helpless to it.

She put down her bags, and folded the clothes she bought and put them away. She kept thinking back to how well she got along with Kaiba, just before they had ran into Yugi. Was it a bad thing, or a good thing? She likes Yugi as a friend, but she couldn't help but feel that he was getting in the way of something. Getting in the way of what though? Her and Kaiba?

She couldn't believe it, that destiny she saw with the Millenium Necklace was slowly coming true! Was she truly helpless to destiny? She couldn't let that happen, or could she? She felt so helpless to fate, but not helpless in a very depressing way. It was like she was helpless to her own feelings, her own wants. It was peaceful, yet aggravating. And out of all this, came the very important question.

Did she love Seto Kaiba?

She lied back on her bed, and after some more thinking, she figured that maybe she was only complicating things. She just couldn't deny it; she liked the different Kaiba she saw at the mall. Seto Kaiba is a man who has a strong bond with anyone he lets into his circle, or line, seeing as it was only Mokuba and himself in that select group. But during that short period of time when he was looking for that unidentified woman, she felt like she had joined that select group of people. A stupid thing to think, maybe, but she still felt some sort of kindness from him.

After all those friendship lectures she had practically forced him to listen to, maybe one of them finally made its way through. After all, Joey and Tristian weren't the friendliest people until they met Yugi. Maybe she was like that for Seto?

" Heh, dream on Tea," She starts thinking, " Seto Kaiba is in another league of unfriendliness, it'd take me forever to get him to change.

Yet, she still felt like going against that thought. She had gotten that feeling before, but ever had it felt more powerful. She never wanted to work with Kaiba so much as she did right now, and it started to confuse her again. Nothing was simple when it came to that man, and as much as she hated complications, she still couldn't bring herself to stop thinking about it. Eventually the stress of he belief in destiny and this complex feeling got the best of her, and she shouted, " Alright destiny, if I' supposed to be happy with Kaiba, prove it!"

And then in accordance to her wishes, her cell phone rang; she picked it up and received the second biggest surprise in her life. The voice on the other end of the phone was none other than Mr. Hotshot himself, Seto Kaiba.

" Hello Tea, I have a request of you." Came his cool arrogant voice.

" Yeesh, he doesn't even say hello. Just goes off into asking his favor without even properly addressing me." Tea thinks to herself before answering Kaiba, " Hello Kaiba, I'm fine, thanks for asking." She says sarcastically into the receiver.

" You're welcome." Kaiba replies without even flinching, " My company is holding a dinner party celebrating the new advancement in virtual reality that will be available soon in Kaiba Land. Of course as the head of Kaiba Corp. I am expected to bring someone with me to the dinner. I would normally bring Mokuba, but this dinner ends too late for him."

That was, of course, wasn't the truth, but it wasn't far from it. Kaiba was not expected of anything but to reveal the new Virtual Reality Pod, but it was common practice for the person holding the party to bring at least one guest. The part about the dinner ending too late for Mokuba to stay up for was also only half-true; the dinner was scheduled to end at eleven at night, which Seto could not ask his brother to do whether Mokuba himself wanted too or not. The actual reason for this lie was so Kaiba would have a good enough excuse to be close to her again. He wanted very much so to see just what his feelings for her were, and being the ever-methodical person he is, he had to set up an experiment.

Tea was taken aback by Kaiba's request, not only for its suddenness, but also that it was Kaiba asking her out for a pseudo-date, " Ah, I don't have a dress that'd be good enough for any big Kaiba Corp. party." Tea said, she really didn't know what to think, and was trying to get out of the predicament Kaiba had just put her in.

" Don't worry, I can take care of that."

" You would buy me a dress, just to go to a dinner!" Tea exclaimed, she really shouldn't have been surprised, but she never thought that Kaiba would endow gifts to her of all people.

" Will you attend the dinner?"

" Ah…" Tea started, she couldn't turn him down now, " Okay."

" I'll send a car to get you, I'll meet you at Kami-sama's."

Tea hung up the phone, and then stepped back several steps, " Kami-sama's! That's the ritziest clothes store in all of Japan!"

Author's Note: Sorry for the weeklong unannounced vacation I took from The Most Unlikely Love Tale of All Time. I would also like to thank all of the nice people who reviewed the story, and I would _not_ like to thank Shadow Hearts: Covenant for making me play it too much. Also, I made up Kami-sama's, I don't really know what the ritziest clothes store in Japan really is, so I threw something together. Enjoy the next chapter, Kaiba and Tea go to the dinner with surprising results!


	12. The First Date!

Chapter XI: The First Date!

Before she knew it, Tea was trying on dresses in the ritziest clothes store in Japan. The store was named Kami-sama's, as the clothes made the wearer feel like a god. At least that was the speculation, and after trying on several of their more expensive dresses – at Kaiba's insistence – she was inclined to agree.

Kaiba insisted that Tea find what she liked the most, and that cost was not a matter. The trick to wearing formal clothes is to like what you wear; Kaiba knows this more than anyone, because he has to wear formal clothes to work everyday. Of course, telling a woman that cost is not a factor, is not always the best idea in the world, but Kaiba was prepared to buy the most expensive thing they have anyway, so by default nothing Tea could have wanted would have been out of the question.

Tea had the time of her life, she felt like she was one of the rich and famous. She could feel the joy of the sales woman that was helping her, it wasn't everyday that someone with more than enough money to buy the entire store walked in and offered a young lady anything she wanted. Kaiba hung back and let the two women do what they do, he would occasionally be asked his opinion about what dress looked the best, and he would always give the same reply, " The dress you wear tonight has to be parallel to your own soul, or you'll be fidgeting all night."

It took a good two hours before Tea finally found something that shouted out her. It was a light blue dress that tied around the neck making a V line. The silk dress reflected the store's light, dimly though so not to be flashy. The dress certainly would highlight the woman inside it.

" Kaiba, this is the one." She said when her eyes met it.

Kaiba smirked, he was happy that Tea had finally made up her mind, " How much does this cost?" He asks the sales woman.

" This? This will cost one hundred thousand, five hundred Yen." The sales woman said.

" Fine, please bring it to the register." Kaiba replies.

With the dress bought and secured inside a bag, Tea and Kaiba entered the car that picked Tea up. After Tea recovered from her sheer joy, she said to Kaiba, " I have some things that will go so well with this dress. Would you mind if I go get them from my house?"

Kaiba completely forgot to plan what to do after Tea had gotten her dress, it was still only four o'clock and the dinner wasn't to start until nine o'clock, " Hm, yes of course. I'll have a car pick you up at eight-thirty."

" Again with the cars? Why doesn't he pick me up himself, I mean, it wouldn't look bad for him." Tea thought before she said, " Okay."

The car dropped Tea off at her house, and she carried her bag inside. It might have been easier on her if her parents had not have gotten home from work yet, however at four o'clock they were always home from their Sunday shift. It also would have been easier on her if she could at least get to her room before her mother caught her, but alas, fate also has an off sense of humor, " Hi Tea, where did you just get home from?" Her mother questioned.

Tea turned around to face her mother, " Hey mom, I just got back from a little shopping." She laughed nervously.

" Where at?" Tea's mother asked, and looked at the name on the bag Tea was carrying, " Kami-sama's! I thought you were saving money to go to dance school?"

" Well, ya'see, I was invited to this dinner tonight at nine, and…" Tea started when her mother broke in.

" It's a school night tonight Tea, your boyfriend should know that!"

Tea almost kicked herself for forgetting about school tomorrow, but she still had an obligation to Kaiba. Then it hit her, boyfriend? Kaiba wasn't her boyfriend!

" _Mom_! I don't have a boyfriend. I know it'd be late, but I already gave Kaiba my word…" Tea started when her mother cut her off again.

" Kaiba, as in, _Seto _Kaiba! Ooooooh, good girl! You're going to rake us in a millionaire, aren't you Tea! I always knew my daughter would marry a millionaire…" Tea's mother said as she swooned away.

" Well…" Tea started awkwardly, " At least I don't have to worry about upsetting my parents…" Tea said to herself, and entered her room.

She looked around for hours for the two things she knew would look great with the dress Kaiba had bought her. Two light blue wristbands and her light blue high heels. When she finally uncovered those items, it was time to leave. Tea made a mental note there and then that she would clean her room, if everything were clean she wouldn't have spent all day looking for just a pair of wristbands and high heels. She put them on, and hurried to the front door.

Just her luck that her parents just happened to be waiting for her to exit her room, with a camera in her father's hands. Tea was blinded for a few seconds by the flashes from the camera, " What the – " She started to say when her mother started talking.

" Oh these pictures are so valuable, Tea going on her first date with her future husband Seto Kaiba!" She said with a sigh characteristic of most mothers in her situation.

" Mom, Dad, please, it's not a big deal." Tea tells them, but to no avail.

" This may not seem like a big deal to you Tea, but to your parents, these are precious memories." Tea's mother replied.

As Tea dealt with her parents, Kaiba sat in the car just outside Tea's house. He was debating furiously with himself whether or not to go to the door. He didn't even know if it was the right thing to pick her up at her house personally. But here he was, sitting in the back of the company car, waiting for his guest to come. He was starting to get impatient, the dinner would start in a half-hour, and he wanted to be there in good time. Thankfully Tea soon walked out the door of her house, annoyed a bit at her parents for making this a big deal.

She made her way to the car, and opened the door and received a big surprise, " Kaiba, I thought you were waiting at the dinner?" She asked him in wonder, as she really didn't think he would come get her personally.

" I need to show up with my guest." Kaiba said coolly, trying not to be taken in by the image of beauty that was now sitting beside him.

" Oh." Tea said, half disappointed, " Well, lets get this dinner over with then."

" Tea, there will be people asking about our relationship…" Kaiba started.

" I'll just tell them that I'm a friend." Tea said cheerfully, as a means to annoy Kaiba, but his response would shock her.

" That's fine."

This was definitely odd, Seto Kaiba actually admitting to have a friend! This was something she'd been pushing him to do for a long time, ever since Duelist Kingdom, but she never thought that it would actually sink in. It was either some mistake, or maybe it was destiny, like that old woman said.

Tea only showed her surprise with a slight widening of the eyes, which went undetected by Kaiba, as he was looking forward the entire time. He was still debating what his feelings were for her. Recently they were respect, infatuation, and love. The former was the most likely, the middle was likely, and the latter had only a loose foothold in his mind. But the night was still young, and he still had plenty of time left in his experiment. After all, the dinner hadn't even started yet.

When they arrived at the place of the dinner, Tea was a little confused, " The dinner's _at_ Kaiba Headquarters?" She asked herself aloud.

" Yes, the fortieth floor is dedicated to events such as this." Kaiba answered.

" Okay."

The two entered the building, and started for the elevators. Neither Tea nor Kaiba picked up on the odd stares that several Kaiba Corp. workers gave them. To them this was a first, seeing their boss with a girl. It was actually heartening for them, to see that their boss is still a human being like they are.

After the elevator ride, they were there, in the fortieth floor of Kaiba Headquarters. People were already socializing amongst themselves; some had taken their seats in their assigned tables. The biggest shareholders sat at the table in the front of the room, which was also the table that Tea and Kaiba would be sitting at. They would be sitting in the middle of the table overlooking the entire room. Kaiba walked straight for that table with Tea following close behind.

Tea felt like a fish out of water, she may know how to deal with her own type of people, but these were all businessmen and businesswomen, and their spouses. She had no idea how to act in front of these people, and she wished that she could ask Kaiba about it, but she didn't think it would look good for him now in front of all these people. All she could do now was follow Kaiba, and act as ladylike as she could. For all that it was worth, she hoped that she wouldn't be noticed.

Of course that was like hoping you weren't going to be eaten when you are being turned over a fire, she was noticed as soon as she sat down by the entire table, and soon by the entire room when it came time for the presentation. She was bombarded by questions about her relationship with Kaiba – like Kaiba had said – and she was also hit with several others regarding her future. Mostly the questions were of the "when will you and Seto hook up" theme. All of her answers were truthful, but she grew tired of all these personal questions.

To her left, Kaiba was also bombarded with questions; many of them were of the new virtual reality pod and the future of Kaiba Corp., however he was also hit with some personal questions about Tea. Kaiba dealt with those questions with his usual grace, and was even more able to bounce off of them, and bring the topic back to the new tech he originated. Poor Tea didn't have a starting topic though, and was forced to deal with things as they were thrown her way.

When it was finally time for Kaiba to give his presentation, Tea thanked whatever power it was that was responsible for making it so. She was reaching her wit's end with all of the questions about her and Kaiba. However it made her blush just a little bit whenever someone said that they looked good together.

Kaiba stood up, as a projector started up just behind him showing pictures of the new tech on a screen that was suspended above the room so everyone could see it. The new virtual reality pod looked no different than the previous ones that she had seen when she and her friends helped Mokuba and saved Kaiba.

When Kaiba got up, he accidentally got a full glance of Tea. He took in how lovely she looked, and for the first time in his life, something overlapped his work. He took a moment to clear his head; there was no way he could give this very important speech if his mind stayed exclusively on his "date". When Tea hadn't heard Kaiba's stern business voice fill the room immediately, she turned around to see what was wrong. She looked right into his eyes as she thought of something to do to encourage the young CEO, but these thoughts reached him through her eyes.

Kaiba found what he was going to say, and began his speech, " Every so often, in sparse years, there is a new advancement in technology. Technology the definition of our species. This year Kaiba Corp. advances the field of technology to the next realm." Kaiba starts, getting the shareholders' attention, " Behold! The virtual pod!" Kaiba says, as a the large screen behind him backs away to reveal the new virtual pod being raised from a trap hole in the floor, " This is an advanced model of the one previously released in Kaiba Land here in Domino. The new virtual pod boasts a new enhanced virtual reality system, which works by sending information straight to the brain. The previous model took a person's consciousness and dumped it into the modem, where information poured into the brain at the frequency the modem could emulate. However that system created semi-real images that did not have smell and taste. The new system, which feeds information directly into the brain, emulates real-world sensations by causing _lucid dreams_. Dreams that the modem controls to create environments, and regulate the laws of physics. Because the person experiences all of this as a dream, the chemical senses of taste and smell are emulated perfectly, but not by the modem, but by the person's own memories of the smell and taste. Essentially, it's like a normal dream that anyone of us has experienced, but at the same time is regulated by the modem in order to create balance and regulate environmental changes, and also to run a game program." Kaiba continues, and everyone in the room is impressed, especially Tea who was completely flabbergasted by all of the philosophical and scientific ideas involved, " This virtual reality pod will replace everything from gaming systems to computers. It could all be activated at a thought, and the most complicated of systems could be written in the blink of an eye." Everyone was now completely in awe of the new virtual reality pod, but that was still not the real shocker that Kaiba reveals next, " The Internet, once a philosophical place of numbers and information, could become a _place_!" At that the entire floor went silent, what Kaiba just proposed was quite easily the invention of the millenium.

It appeared as if no one was going to ask any questions, so Kaiba announced the end of his presentation and that dessert was being served and took his seat. He was pleased, after all of his hard work; he had silenced the place. His plans for the new virtual reality pod would net Kaiba Corp. millions, making the company richer than it had ever been before. Even though he couldn't reign supreme atop Kaiba Tower to defeat his adopted father, he at least could defeat him by taking over his company and bringing it to new fame and fortune. Now, more than ever, Kaiba Corp. belonged to _him_.

Tea noticed the relaxation in Kaiba, he looked almost completely different, his body was slumped in the chair, his hands were on top of his lap in a satisfied manner, and his head was tilted slightly back. But what Tea noticed most were his eyes. They were softer, less focussed and near sinister than they are normally. This put a smile on Tea's face, she had never known Kaiba to be this relaxed, and she couldn't help feeling that at least forty percent of it had been her doing.

She was not far off the dot, either. Kaiba was prepared for his presentation, sure, but he had actually scrapped his original speech, which he worked on for hours the other night, when his eyes met hers. Something seemed right, and the words that had found him then were more effective than the ones he had wrote. He hated that speech, for hours he worked on it, but it just wasn't good enough. He was very thankful that Tea was there, she was like a muse to him.

Since Kaiba seemed to be in such a good mood, and everyone was off getting desserts, Tea decided to chance talking with Kaiba, " I'm not big on business, but I take it that went well?"

" Very well. Normally there is at least a ten minute question period after a presentation, but it seems everyone is pleased with the new virtual reality pod." Kaiba responded.

" Well that's good. You spent many sleepless nights on it since you began, haven't you?"

" How could you tell?"

" Woman's intuition. But mostly because you look like a zombie every time I see you at school!" Tea says laughing a bit.

" Heh, remember last week?"

" The long weekend?"

" I slept through it."

" Wow, must be tough."

" No, I'm used to it. And it was worth it to see this success." Kaiba says, motioning towards the people, just now starting to come back from getting dessert, " After dessert, the dinner will be over. Afterwards, there is something I was to show you." He adds.

" What is it?" Tea asks as the people from their table were starting back.

" A surprise."

One of the shareholders was kind enough to bring Tea and Kaiba their share of the desert, Tea thanked him and Kaiba just nodded at him. While the shareholders were taking with Kaiba about his new virtual reality pod, Tea couldn't help but wonder what surprise Kaiba had in store for her. Whatever it was, it couldn't be any bigger than him coming out and _inviting_ her to this dinner in the first place!

She looked down, and noticed her desert, a small plate of soft looking vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup, and decided to taste it. It was good, probably the best ice cream she had ever tasted, and it was just vanilla and chocolate syrup! It was unbelievable, but whoever made this sure was able to make something good out of so little.

She finished off her desert in her usual grace, a grace thankfully unnoticed by the other people at the table who were too busy conversing with Kaiba. Kaiba, though, saw her. He was looking at her through the corner of his eye, ever since their eyes met that night; he found it harder and harder not to look at her. Tea met his one eye, and immediately felt sheepish at its hard stare, probably because she ate her ice cream in a less-than-ladylike fashion. But there was still a hint of jocundity, which made her almost want to laugh at herself. Sadly, this was not the place for gaiety; or else she could have made Kaiba look bad. Which was a new feeling of duty to have for Tea to feel towards Kaiba, seeing as she had never had any love for him since just after this whole thing had started.

After another half-hour, it was finally eleven o'clock, and hour from midnight. Tea was tired, it wasn't often that she operated at this time of day, heck the last time she remembered staying up this late was when she asked Ishizu to use the Millenium Necklace. Kaiba on the other hand, seemed to peak at this time; he looked even more alert than ever. It may have had something to do with the coffee he drank during the dinner, or maybe it was just his natural clock, but it just seemed odd to Tea that someone could be so alert so late at night.

The shareholders were clearing out into the elevators; all ready to head home and into their beds. Tea almost envied them, but she was getting a surprise from the CEO, and she really wanted to know what it is! After the floor was completely empty, Kaiba called for the janitors to clean up, and once they arrived, he turned around and headed for the elevators. Tea always resented this, Kaiba's rudeness to just walk off and _expect _people to follow, " Kaiba, wait! What are you doing, walking off like that, you got to tell me when you leave!" She growled at him, as she ran to catch up to him.

" I thought you were waiting for me, so it wouldn't matter." Kaiba responded, but oddly enough, not in his cold tone.

" Well, you shouldn't assume things." Tea says in a forgiving tone.

Once inside the elevator, Kaiba pressed four numbers on the keypad in a certain order. Then a card reader opened up beside the keypad, which Tea couldn't even see until it had opened up. Kaiba swiped a card through it, and then the words "bottom floor" read out above the elevator door. Tea was surprised enough now, considering that Kaiba is taking her to a secret floor; that she didn't need the actual surprise. The elevator ran for a while, taking them all the way down to the bottom floor of Kaiba Corp. Headquarters.

Once the elevator came to a stop, and the doors open, Kaiba motioned for Tea to follow him. She walked through the odd looking room, it didn't look like any floor she would expect to find in Kaiba Corp. It looked like a tech lab, but it didn't seem like a place for many people to work in. There were several large computers hooked up to the walls, but no monitors. She was curious about what this floor was used for, and she didn't need to ask. Kaiba was nice enough to tell her anyway; " This is where _I_ work. This is the mainframe of the new virtual reality pod."

" This place looks scary." Tea noted aloud.

" It's not meant to look nice and pretty, it's meant to store all of Kaiba Corp's data, and act as the main server for the virtual reality modem." Kaiba silently informs her.

They walked in silence again for the rest of the short trip to the back of the room, where two of the prototype virtual reality pods lay on the ground in the center of a circle of computers each as tall as Tea and twice as wide. Just behind the pod to the left was a small wooden chair; used by Kaiba himself while he was working on the wiring and minor programming inside it. Despite the custom jets, and the posh offices, Seto Kaiba worked in environments closely related to those of starving artisans. It went to show Tea just how seriously Kaiba took his job.

Kaiba told Tea to relax in the pod to the right, as he typed some sting of code into the monitor at the back of the circle of computers. After five minutes of lying in the comfortable white leather inside of the pod, Kaiba finally finished his programming, and lay inside the other pod. While lying in the pod, Kaiba said a few words to the computer so it would startup the pods.

After those words, Tea felt her entire body felt heavy, like it had weighed twice that of its normal weight. Her mind then felt fuzzy, and she fell into a quiet slumber. When she opened her eyes, it was as if she had only just blinked, and the surroundings took a sudden change from cold and mechanical to warm and inviting. It took her a few moments to realize that she was in a cabin, through two windows she could see now and woods, she also smelled to wood of the cabin and felt the heat of a fire just to her left. It was simply amazing that she could get the full cabin-on-a-snowy-mountain feeling while knowing that she was really on the very bottom floor of Kaiba Corp. Headquarters. Suddenly she heard Kaiba's voice behind her.

" This is the virtual world, it is exactly the same as the real world. What you are experiencing is memories, all compiled and being improvised inside your brain from what the modem is telling it." He said.

Tea turned around to see Kaiba, " This is what you call a lucid dream, right?" Tea asked him.

" Yes. A _controlled_ lucid dream, really." Kaiba replied, " That is how the virtual world can seem so much like the real world. Other than me, you are the first person to experience this new virtual reality. _Officially_ the first people to go into the virtual reality world will be a lucky winner of a contest that the advertising department is organizing and myself. But I want you to _technically _be the first person to experience it."

" Wow, thanks Kaiba." Tea said, knowing it was a big honour that Kaiba would invite her specifically to be the first in his newest creation.

" Please, have a seat by the fire." He asks her.

She obliges, and Kaiba takes a seat across from her, " Why'd you bring me here anyway Kaiba?"

" I…" Kaiba starts, debating on something to say, " Wanted to have your input, since nobody else has experienced the new virtual reality system, I wanted to know how another person felt, before it went out to the public."

" Oh…" Tea started, " Well, I think its great. There's no flaws at all, I would swear that I was really up in the mountains with you, if I didn't know for sure that my body is sleeping in that pod amongst all those creepy computers."

Kaiba chuckles at this, he had been around those computers so long that the sight of them was second nature, but to hear Tea's opinion of them was a true eye-opener to him, " Heh, that's good to hear. That means my lucid dream theory is correct."

" You actually doubted yourself? If I had even ten percent of your genius, I would be confident in everything I did." Tea exclaimed.

" I never really doubted myself, but…thanks" Kaiba said as he looked into Tea's eyes and became entrapped in them.

Tea looked into Kaiba's eyes as he looked into hers, and she could see a different Seto Kaiba than the one that was once so cold-hearted and so cutthroat, the Kaiba she despised. This was a more caring and less mean Kaiba than the one she had known only just a week ago.

Kaiba was feeling quite different himself, he had never shown this side of his personality to anyone but his little brother Mokuba, and even he only saw it when they were both children in that orphanage. Perhaps being the CEO of Kaiba Corp. has turned him into a cold and calculating person. After his loss to Yugi he had lost his evil side, but he was never truly free of it until this very moment. He knew exactly what he wanted now, but he was too afraid to take it, he was afraid that Tea would leave him forever if he had even brought it up now. So he sat there gazing into her eyes, unable to speak, unable to move. It was until Tea blinked and remembered how late it was that he was able to recover.

" Kaiba, its gotta be midnight by now! I need to get home, it's a school night!" Tea said, while looking around frantically for a way out.

Kaiba shook his head while she was still distracted by the fight or flight response, which caused her to look around so wildly. He looked calm afterwards and luckily just when Tea looked to him for the way out.

He decided that he should stop the virtual reality pod, and he said the wake up code, " Modem five three five, wakeup and shutdown."

This caused Tea and Kaiba to wake up from their lucid dream and the two pods to shutdown. Tea felt a little refreshed from the nap she had just taken, but she still needed to sleep in order to be ready for school that morning. She got up, and started walking towards the elevator with Kaiba.

Inside the elevator, Tea decided to say her goodnight to Kaiba, " Well, goodnight Kaiba, thank you for the evening."

" Its still a half-hour drive to your house, it might be easier if you stayed right here." Kaiba responded.

Tea was shocked, now he was inviting her to stay with him and in Kaiba Corp. Headquarters as well! She didn't think that the headquarters would have any beds, " Here, in Kaiba Corp. Headquarters? There're rooms?" She asked.

" Yes, the entire eightieth floor is dedicated to rooms for the late-working executives." Kaiba responded.

" Well then, if I have my own room, I'm sure my parents would be okay with it. Especially since its you, my parents probably wouldn't mind me staying over at Kaiba Corp. Headquarters with a billionaire." She said with humour, " My mom's got it in her head that you're my boyfriend!" She said laughing.

" Hm, indeed." Was all Kaiba could say.

Author's Note: So sorry for the long delay with this chapter, got very busy all of a sudden at my end. So, for all the people who thought my average chapter is too short, this one is for you! So with the end of the dinner come so many possibilities for this couple, but where's Yugi in all this? He's not called "Fate's Bane" for nothing you know! My girlfriend designed tea's dress by the way; here's a link to the picture (get rid of all the unnecessary spaces first) http: www. deviantart. com /deviation /13946177/


	13. Tea’s Realization, Kaiba’s Pride

Chapter XII: Tea's Realization, Kaiba's Pride

Tea awoke to the sound of Kaiba knocking at her door, well, more like pounding rather than knocking. She got up with a start, and heard his voice just outside her room.

" You have an hour before we have to go to school. The twentieth floor is a cafeteria for the executives, tell them to but your bill on my tab. I'll meet you outside of the building at six AM."

After that, the total presence of life at the other side of the door disappeared. Tea got out of bed, and took care of her morning duties; she noticed how well the room was made for the first time since last night, seeing as she was too tired to notice much of anything the other night. She put her dress back on, and noticed something really bad. She was still wearing that dress from the dinner!

If she were to go to school in that, there was no hiding where she had been, Joey wouldn't let her be until she spilled, and Yugi would most definitely be there to hear it all. She really wasn't ready for her friends, especially Yugi, to know about this quite yet, and she hated having to blatantly lie to them either. She would have to tell the truth if they ever asked, so she hoped that they wouldn't.

It wasn't because she hated Kaiba either, she had actually grown to like him whenever he acted gentlemanly, but she would hate to have to tell her friends that she was off going to dinners with the "enemy". She sighed, she would have to eventually tell them, but before then, she would have to warm them up to the idea of Kaiba joining their group. Heck, never mind that, she would have to warm _Kaiba_ up to joining their group.

The whole situation gave her a headache, so she decided to just let the day come as it may, and she would start out right! She was going to get the best possible breakfast she could get on Kaiba's credit, and enjoy that first. Hopefully in the car ride over to the school, she could parlay with Kaiba about warming up to Yugi and the gang. Hopeful thinking maybe, but it would be great if she could.

She walked out of the room, and climbed into the elevator. She pressed the button for the twentieth floor, and braced herself for the descent. In a few seconds the door opened into the executive cafeteria. Her sight embraced the warm colours, and her nose embraced the good smells of well-prepared food. The mixture of Western and Japanese food was a new sensation, and just by judging by the smells, Tea didn't know quite what to eat. Should she have pancakes, or rice and miso?

She eventually decided to have something she had never had before, and ordered a Western food. Her pancakes were brought to her quickly, and she told the waiter to charge it to Kaiba. He was surprised to say the least, seeing as the last person that was foolish enough to charge to Kaiba was fired immediately, but after some goading on by the fearless Tea, he obliged.

The pancakes tasted great! They were made fresh for her, and sported powder sugar and sweet syrup to sweeten the hot cake. She finished her breakfast in peace, and checked the time. With little time left to get to the first floor, Tea hurried off to the elevator. She pressed the button, and climbed in. During the short descent, Tea realized another flaw to staying at Kaiba Corp Headquarters. She didn't have any of her books!

" Oh this is just great!" Tea exclaimed, " Just great! What am I gonna do now?"

Understandably, Tea wasn't in the best of moods when she got to the car waiting for her just outside the Kaiba Corp. Headquarters. She managed a smile at the driver who opened the door for her, and sat down inside the black vehicle. Suddenly she realized another presence in the car, and oddly enough, she was able to guess who it was within one try.

" Hello Kaiba." She said without even looking at him.

It really wasn't that big of a deal, after all, Kaiba _was_ going to school with her, but it still surprised her that she could just _feel_ him there. Kaiba picked up on it as if he were used to it. It was a new experience for the two of them, but they still had a sense of deja vu as they picked off on each other's aura.

" You're late." He responded coolly.

" Well sorry Kaiba," Tea said sarcastically, " It's really hard to prepare for school when you've got nothing to prepare!" She added just as coolly as Kaiba.

" If its book you're worried about, don't worry." Kaiba said with his traditional sneer/laugh that he does often, " I've had some people bring them to me."

This wasn't good, now her parents probably knew that she spent the night at Kaiba Corp. Headquarters with Kaiba, that would most definitely be embarrassing to come home to, though she really should have expected that anyway. On the note of embarrassing things; she still wore that beautiful dress Kaiba had bought her just yesterday. Now, that really wouldn't be such a bad thing if she could have an alibi for wearing it to school that day, but no matter what direction she went, it all ended the same way: her eventually telling her friends all about last night. She really didn't want to do that, but she saw no other alternative. But there might have been still hope left, and she clung to it for all it was worth.

She still needed to test her hope with this next question, " Kaiba…you didn't happen to get my clothes did you?"

" Hm? No, there's no way you would be able to change in time anyway." He said, and upon noticing the slight physical grief this seemed to cause her he added, " But don't worry about the uniform code, I'll personally make sure that you will be permitted to wear whatever you want for today. Besides, I'm not in uniform anyway." He said as a means to comfort her.

" Wait a minute, did I just console her? What am I becoming?" Kaiba thinks immediately after his last statement.

" Ah, thanks Kaiba." Tea said to appease Kaiba, however his comment didn't comfort her.

It wasn't the uniform code that bothered her, as a matter of fact, that was indeed the last thing on her mind. But she also didn't want to tell him her real reason for her concern, as she didn't want to insult him. She wasn't sure why, but her feelings towards Kaiba had changed ever since that dinner, and changed for the better. She saw a different Kaiba that night, a Kaiba that she was certain even Mokuba was rare to see. She…liked it!

The ride went by with no other words expressed, this reminded Tea about how the Unhappy Wife and the High Priest that she saw several days ago. Were she and Kaiba turning into them? She didn't want that; she didn't want a loveless marriage! She looks over to Kaiba, who didn't seem to see her; he seemed too deep in thought to notice her looking at him. Tea's frustration returned, and even though the other night was a nice break, it still caused even more conflicting emotions.

The same old question came back to haunt her: Did she love Kaiba? And another one came in its wake: If she did, would she wind up like her past self? She wanted nothing more than to be happy, no matter what came, but was it to be with Kaiba? Of all people, was Seto Kaiba destined to be that one to make her happy? Here she is at sixteen years of age, and she's already making one of the biggest decisions of her life. What should she do?

Seto Kaiba was also in the midst of making up his mind. The very same questions that Tea was asking herself, he was asking himself. Even his logical mind knew it; he loved her. He loved it when she fought with him. He loved it when she was laughing with him. He even loved it, just very little however, when she ragged on him about that forbidden word "friendship". Now he had reached that one hard decision: how to tell her. He was afraid that if he didn't tell her, then he would never be with her, or in the worst case scenario she would wind up with Yugi. He had already lost too much to that kid and he'd be dammed if he let Yugi take the woman that had made him feel comfortable for the first time in his adolescent life away from him. Next questions on his mind were when and how? He had already played the dinner and virtual reality pod cards, what was left that he could do to woo her? The road to his happiness was not paved with gold, like it had appeared to him once he had taken full control of Kaiba Corp., but like that of a labyrinth. He could get lost so many ways, and there was only one way out. If he was making this decision as a businessman; the answer was to not even take the risk of not getting his love returned, but then again, this is not a business decision, this is love.

The half-hour trip went by very quickly; at least it seemed that way to the two introspective teens. When it came time to get out of the car, Tea almost shouted for joy, the air inside seemed to be getting thicker. It was kind of uncomfortable sitting next to a man she was uncertain of her feelings for, and with his overbearing aura, the tension was just that much more.

She entered the school, and like Kaiba said, a hallway monitor caught her and Kaiba out of uniform. Also like Kaiba said; he took care of it. No one dared to go against Kaiba; he was just too powerful. So, for the most part, the school just let Kaiba do what he wanted, and hoped that he wouldn't do anything to hurt the school. Tea smiled for the first time since her breakfast that morning, it may not have been the nicest time to smile, but she couldn't help but feel good that Kaiba was fighting for her.

They had to go separate ways for their first period class, and Tea headed straight for her first class. She knew that her friends would all be there today, and she also knew that they would notice her difference in clothes. It also went without saying that they might say something about it during lunch when they could talk, and she also knew that she would have to tell the truth. She really didn't want to tell her friends about the dinner, but there was no way around it. If she tried, she would only be making herself a hypocrite.

She sat down in her seat, and prepared herself for the hardest day of school of her life. Like any other day, Yugi would come in a minute or two before the bell, and Joey and Tristian would be five to ten minutes late. Tick, tock, tick, tock, Tea felt the seconds pass as she waited for Yugi. Little did she know that the most frustrating day of her life would begin with his arrival.

When the young King of Games and World Champion of Duel Monsters entered the classroom, he looked for Tea, and when his eyes met her, they widened twice that his normal size. He had never seen Tea in a dress before, and the shock nearly blew him back five feet out of the door! He took a quick moment to right himself, and he took his seat next to her. Tea knew the obvious questions were coming.

" So, uh, Tea…what's with the new dress?" Yugi asked innocently.

" Oh, this thing?" Tea replied quickly, laughing nervously, " It was just a present."

" Quite a present I'd say Tea. Who could have given you that?" Yugi prodded, though he both knew and feared the answer.

Tea hesitated, she knew that the answer could set her apart from one of her best friends, but she couldn't bring herself to lie to her childhood friend, " Uh, it was Kaiba."

If Yugi weren't afraid of making an image at the moment, his head would have drooped. This could have meant that he was too late to woo Tea, the woman whom he had secretly loved for such a long time. His childhood friend, and secret love. He was depressed that his rival was able to steal her away from him, but what Tea said next managed to revive his competitive spirit.

" It's nothing Yugi, he just wanted me to make an image to the shareholders. I was only doing it so poor Mokuba wouldn't have to stay up for it!" Tea said to try and keep Yugi from thinking that she and Kaiba were a couple.

It wasn't official anyway, Tea and the arrogant CEO of Kaiba Corp. being a couple that is. The dinner seemed to mean little to Kaiba, at least from Tea's point of view. Also she didn't think much of it anyway, she _was_ just doing a favor for Kaiba after all. She had not attachment to him just because she went to some big dinner with him, mentally helped him with his presentation, went to a virtual cabin in the woods, and then stayed overnight at his company's headquarters. This was what she continued to tell herself anyway, but the reality is quite different. Despite her own allegations, Tea _was_ slowly falling in love with the side of Kaiba she wanted to call Seto. Seto, free of his stepfather's last name, free of his hatred and evil, and free to express his overshadowed kindness and love.

And then it clicked. A spark flew through her brain as the connection fell into place; she had found something out, which she was trying to figure out ever since she met Mokuba. What it was that made him so devoted to his brother, she had found out something that must have been a safely guarded secret for the elder Kaiba brother. The one thing that only Mokuba could see, until now.

She had discovered Seto.

Like usual Joey and Tristian came to class late, and luckily so Tea wouldn't have to deal with their two cents on her being with Kaiba all night on Sunday. Of course Yugi spilled the beans to his best friend, and Joey, of course, made her promise to tell everything come lunchtime. At lunchtime Tea would tell all about the dinner, but she would try not to talk about the rendezvous in the virtual cabin. No need to get that mistaken as some sort of advance on Kaiba's part, that would just create an awkward situation.

And for the sake of the posterity of a certain CEO, she would make no mention of Seto, what Tea had come to call his kind side.

Author's Note: This chapter took much longer than I hoped, so sorry for this. But you have my solemn oath that The Most Unlikely Love Tale of all Time will be a complete work, so don't worry about a thing!

Describe the next chapter in one word, you ask? How about "conflict"? I'll let you stew on that, while I write the next chapter.


	14. Things Come to a Head

Chapter XIII: Things Come to a Head

Tea dreaded today's lunch, and not because they were serving fish sticks, she hated fish sticks, but because she had to come to a conclusion about her feelings for Kaiba. It seemed that way anyway, since she would have to tell them all about last night and also answer the obvious questions. The most dreaded of them being, how do you feel about him? She knew this decision would change her life, possibly for the better and equally possibly for the worse. If she decided that she loved Kaiba, no, _Seto _Kaiba, would she be happy with him? If she decided that she didn't love Kaiba, would she be happy at all? The vision that the Millennium Necklace showed her seemed adamant that it would be so, and the last thing anybody wants is to never be happy.

And what of her friends? She couldn't leave them out of the equation. The issue of Seto Kaiba was still a touchy subject within her circle of friends, and no doubt that if she told them that she liked him, let alone loved him, would they be accepting? He _was_ Yugi's rival, and Joey's sworn enemy. Was happiness truly losing her friends?

"Augh! This never happens in the movies!" Tea thinks so hard that if she were a psychic the windows around her would shatter.

She smiled soon after, though, at her stupid statement. Life never was like it is shown in the movies. Was she really so distressed as to say something so dumb? No matter what shady meaning it might have had, it was still an amusing little moment that did wonders for her mental state. She felt fresh, or at least fresher than she had previously, and with her new mood she had made her decision. A decision that would change not one, but three lives. It was in this time that even Fate stood in anticipation.

Kaiba spent the entire last period ignoring his teacher, as was normal for him, seeing as he already knew what he needed to pass that course anyway. But instead of pondering about his company, Kaiba spent his entire attention on Tea. He watched from behind her as the class went on, and all the while he thought of ways to woo her. He actually couldn't think of anything else! The more he thought of it, though, the more he realized how very difficult it would be. She always hung around her friends, and with them around, well, it was safe to say that his chances of wooing her successfully were slim to nil.

He was so deep in thought, it took the teacher to remind him it was lunch, before he finally realized what time it was. He sauntered over to the lunchroom, where he would get some food and continue to think about what cards he hasn't played to achieve his goal. To gain the love of the woman that completes him.

Yugi left his last class, where he and Joey were too involved in a hushed conversation about Tea's new apparel to concentrate on the teacher's boring lecture. Yugi knew that something was up with Tea and Kaiba, it was so obvious in his eyes. Kaiba didn't seem like the kind of person to throw away money for just any girl, for some dinner; everything he did had a reason. Yugi had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that the woman he had an age-old crush on was going to find love with his rival. He truly feared that he would lose Tea; destiny, time, and his own cowardice all seemed to work against him.

Could he tell Tea all of his feelings? Could he take heartbreak if she didn't return his feelings? He had two options, and they were: tell Tea his feelings before "destiny" moved in, or just keep his feelings bottled up and be bothered by them for the rest of his life. Taking each into consideration, Yugi decided it would be the wiser to tell Tea his feelings. He hoped, no, wished that Tea would return them.

Those three young adults made their way to the cafeteria for the biggest meeting of their lives. Three lives will change, and the outcome will determine whether they will find happiness or not. It was truly destiny against one person who, while once believe it absolute, now opposes it to the full extent of his power. The destiny the Millennium Necklace showed Tea and Ishizu was not clear-cut, like Ishizu would believe. There were two destinies that could result from this meeting of these three people, these people who could mold fate and control their own destiny.

Tea met with her friends at their usual table, and the first words out of Joey's mouth were not surprising, " Tea, what's with this dinner you went to with money-bags?"

" Like I said, I was doing it so Mokuba could get some sleep. The thing went to eleven o'clock, I couldn't do that to the little guy!"

" But why are you wearing that dress today?" Joey continued.

" Ah…because after the dinner, it was too late to go back to my house, so I stayed in one of the Kaiba Corp. executive rooms."

" You stayed at Kaiba Corp.? Just what was Kaiba doing?" Joey asked, a little angrier than before.

Tea didn't much care for Joey's attitude, it wasn't up to him whether she stayed at Kaiba Corp. Headquarters or not. She wasn't a baby.

" Down boy, it's not that big a deal. Kaiba didn't do anything; he was a perfect gentleman as a matter of fact! Unlike some people around here I know." Tea said rolling her eyes at Joey.

" What was that?" Joey said annoyed at his friend for calling him ungentlemanly, that and referring to him as a dog, nothing angered him more than that.

Seto Kaiba watched the spectacle from his table with slight interest. He was very interested in Tea, but the other three people that surrounded her interested him as much as blank paper. Even though he had no real reason, he hated all three of them at the moment, because they made it difficult for him to approach her. He would never be able to have an actual conversation with her, what with Wheeler sure to bark at him. He wanted to talk to her right away, but during the school day, that was just too difficult for even him to do.

Kaiba sighs and thinks about his current predicament, " I want to let her know of my feelings immediately, but there's no way I can have a meaningful conversation with her friends near her. Especially that second-rate duelist Wheeler, who would no doubt be a great obtrusion. Come on Seto, _think_, you've mastered the human psyche, this should be nothing…"

Lunch was rather uncomfortable for Tea, Kaiba, and Yugi. There was a definite fact here, things were coming to a head. Yugi knew that he had no time left, he had to tell Tea his feelings, or he would never get the chance. Kaiba was getting impatient with himself, time was running out, and he was not about to let Tea slip through his fingers without a fight. And who could forget poor Tea? She was being made into a prize, and she didn't even know it. But it wasn't often when the prize's choice determined the winner of it. What was going to happen? Would anybody be happy after these events that come to a head?

It finally came to and end, the most uncomfortable lunch in Tea's life had finally come to an end. Even though little happened, the triangle of tension that seemed to emanate from Yugi, Kaiba, and herself seemed to make that half-hour seem longer than a stay with the dental hygienist. She stood up, and brought her trash to the garbage can, and then started walking to her next class. As Fate would have it, Kaiba also got up to deliver his garbage to the same can, but as Fate would not have it, Yugi was also willing to go to that same trash can. Yugi arrived with Tea, and Kaiba was still a good few feet away. Even worse for Fate was that this was when Yugi would choose to share his feelings with Tea.

" Uh Tea, there's something I really need to tell you..." Yugi started.

" Oh, Yugi?" Tea hesitated for a reason she couldn't pin point, " What is it?"

While on his way to meet Tea, Kaiba couldn't help but wonder why Yugi was there talking with her. They were just supposed to dump off their garbage and be done with it, but from what he could see, they were doing quite the opposite. For what seemed like ten minutes, which was really just two seconds, Yugi was looking into Tea's eyes. He couldn't hear what it was that Yugi said just before that, and he didn't know why they were looking, no, staring into each other's eyes. He stopped where he was, and looked on, feeling a great rage building in within him. He had been too late! He had spent too much of what little time he had conducting little "experiments", and being too cowardly to tell her his feelings sooner. He had lost to Yugi again, but what made it worse was that it wasn't in a juvenile little game of Duel Monsters, it was in the game of love. He had lost to that "King of Games" in the most important game of them all, and he had lost the most valuable prize of all, and it wasn't a title or some card, it was the woman whom he had come to love.

Seconds before Yugi could say one word of the speech he wanted to give Tea, Kaiba felt something push him towards Tea. It didn't quite feel like a physical push, however, it was more of a push in his mind. He felt something click in the very back of his head, and his feet moved towards Tea as if they were in the middle of a life or death race with a bear. He arrived just as Yugi took his first breath to speak, and suddenly the three of them could feel a chain of electricity connect them in a triangle.

Tea instantly snapped her head to the side to see Kaiba arrive, and Yugi turned his head slowly towards him as if to say, " Oh no!"

Even Fate, with her uncanny ability to predict the future, could not see the outcome of this event. The energies emanated from Yugi and Kaiba were exactly equal, even with the extra energy lent to Yugi by the Pharaoh! That must have meant that Kaiba had also connected with his ancient self, the High Priest, the very second he saw Yugi and Tea look into each other's eyes.

Yes, it was so, The Pharaoh himself had also been infatuated with Tea's ancient alter-ego. He had met her many times whenever he met with the High Priest at his temple, and had always admired her from afar. He was an honourable and trustworthy person though, and he never let his lusts get the better of him, as she was the wife of his best friend. He would never do his friend dishonour by stealing his wife. But now, with Tea and Kaiba not together, and little Yugi free to try his chance with the Pharaoh helping him without knowing exactly why, the rivals were on equal ground. Destiny had set this up, but it could no longer chose who went where, it was now entirely up to Tea. She was faced with the biggest decision of her life, the decision that will determine her happiness for the rest of her life, and she knew that was so.

" Seto...?" Was all Tea could manage.

" Tea, I have been thinking of this ever since the mall. Thinking of my feelings towards you; I have never felt this way before in my life, and I could not find out for certain for so long, and for this I apologize. I stand here despite consequence to say this, to say, I love you."

Tea looked into Kaiba's eyes, she had finally made her decision. She had made it while Kaiba was, for the first time in his life, opening himself up. She had made the decision, and knew with perfect knowledge that it was the right one, " I love you too Seto!" She said, as she quickly moved the short distance separating her and her love, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He held her close to him, and as he did, he could feel the years of torment under Gozaboro Kaiba lifting from his mind, and his old kindness flowing back.

Yugi's head hung from where it was fixed on his body, he had lost. But it didn't hurt as much as he would have thought, he felt like something truly right had just happened. Like the world fell back into place. Tears came to his eyes, but they were not of sadness, they were of joy. Something that was meant to be had just happened, and Yugi couldn't help but feel happy for his friend and rival. He looked up with a smile on his face, which was something that had not been there for several days. There was one last thing that needed to be done.

" Tea, Kaiba, I'm happy for you." He said, and truly meant it.

Tea and Kaiba broke their hug, and Tea turned her head to Yugi, " Oh, what was it that you wanted to tell me Yugi?" She asked with a lightness to her voice that hadn't been there for too long.

" Nothing. You guys have a nice day, I need to get to class before the first bell, or my teacher would kill me!" Yugi said before walking off to his next class.

And for the first time in days, Tea laughed whole-heartily, and Kaiba, no, Seto, along with her.

_The End_

Author's Note: I am so very sorry for the extremely long update here everyone. Long story short, I had to erase my entire computer's harddrive due to problems that have been plaguing me for a while. Between that and school work, I've had barely anytime at all to work on The Most Unlikely Love Tale of all Time. But now its all worth it, it has reached its conclusion. I sincerely hope that everyone enjoys it. I'll work on an epilogue that will hopefully be up within twenty-four hours, and then I'll get to work on another story that's based off of Yu-Gi-Oh and this story! I can't give any details quite yet, but I may give a trailer in the epilogue. Until then, happy reading, and thank you all for reading and reviewing!

Adam Stevens (AKA The Code Cruncher)


	15. Epilogue

Epilogue

Ever since Tea and Seto started their relationship, life began to get better and better. The stress that Tea was under completely vanished, and she was enjoying her life. Every weekend afterwards she and Seto spent time together; playing Duel Monsters, going to the mall, going to parks, doing anything they could together. The relationship, the bond, that they shared was the final key to bringing the conditioned cruelness of the Kaibas out of Seto, and he was finally able to enjoy life. Happiness had indeed come true for the both of them, and nothing in the world could possibly break the bond they shared.

The destiny for Tea and Seto was truly best for everyone, as even Yugi, who's heart was nearly broken, found his happiness not long after that. He complained once (though he hardly meant it) to Rebecca, and she was able to comfort him, and that was the last time he ever complained about it. Soon after, Yugi developed a crush on Rebecca, who's flaring words made him feel like he was never without a good friend. Determined that he wouldn't lose this one, Yugi told Rebecca his feelings immediately after discovering them, and they started their relationship.

Also, what of the gang, and them accepting Seto as Tea's boyfriend? Well, needless to say that Joey did not approve at first, but even he took it as the truth. Though Seto never truly _joined_ their group, he was less malicious towards Joey, and considered Yugi more of a friend than ever. Things had just fallen into place, like a giant puzzle had be solved, and like the full picture being seen, the lives of each person involved had become better.

Ishizu, the descendant of Fate, had finally gotten a five thousand year old weight off her ancestor's chest, and in turn she was rewarded with Marik volunteering for a week of service to let her rest.

Life all around Tea was getting lighter and lighter, and with Seto by her side, nothing could shake her. And from the other world, the Unhappy Wife looks upon her descendant, and smiles.

Author's Note: I've officially canned the True Duelist (that near sequel I've told you all about in the final chapter). I was really enthusiastic about it, but I just couldn't get my heart in the whole dueling spirit, which was supposed to be the major theme to the story. Sorry to anybody who was looking forward to it.

Instead I've decided to work on my original story called "Ninja" (for now), I really like the whole idea and I've already got a lot of good events planned out. If you're into adventure novels with ninjas and samurais and such, then this'll definitely be your time of story. Sorry, but the only way you'll see this story is on the bookstore shelf, because my ambition is to become a professional author.


End file.
